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Dare County’s school board met briefly Nov. 30, 2022 to approve an individual class size waiver request to be sent to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

North Carolina General Statute 115C-301(c) spells out the average class size for kindergarten through third grade.

The funded class size allotment ratio for kindergarten is one teacher for 18 students; for first grade, one teacher for 16 students; for second and third grade classes, one teacher for 17 students.

“At the end of the second month and the remainder of the school year, the size of an individual class in kindergarten through third grade shall not exceed the allotment ratio by more than three students,” states the statute.

At Nags Head Elementary School, a recent arrival pushed one third grade class past the three students permitted to a class size of 21 students. The request asks to waive the class size for that third grade classroom.

Interim Superintendent Steve Blackstock reported that the system has continued to advertise for a third grade teacher. To mitigate the larger class size, the elementary school is contemplating pulling small groups of students from the classroom for concentrated instruction.

The vote was 5-0 as Joe Tauber and Susan Bothwell could not attend the special called meeting of the board. The application deadline was Nov. 30, 2022.

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